Hereinafter, content such as video content, audio-visual content, content relating to a simulation or a simulated environment, content related to or usable in an augmented reality environment, and other similarly purposed content is collectively and interchangeably referred to as “content”, or “multimedia”, “multimedia data”, or “multimedia content”, unless expressly disambiguated where used.
Streaming of content is the process of progressive transmission of the content from a sender device to a receiver device such that a playback or other use of the streamed content can begin without a priori receiving the entirety of the content from the sender device and continuing to receive one or more remaining portions of the content as other previously received portions of the content are used in this manner. Streamed content is also interchangeably referred to herein as a “stream” or “stream data” unless expressly disambiguated where used.
Users engage with multimedia content in a variety of ways. Some content engages users visually, other content engages users audibly, some other content engages users in a tactile manner, or some combination of these and other currently possible manners.
Engaging with multimedia content results in an emotional involvement of the user with the content. This emotional involvement is an experience that the user has relative to the content with which the user is engaged in some manner.
The illustrative embodiments recognize that different users can have different experiences with the same content. For example, different viewers have different reactions, acceptance rates, likes or dislikes when viewing the same movie. Experiencing music, videos, games or gaming environments, and the like, is highly dependent on the personal traits of the user and is therefore highly variable from user to user.
The illustrative embodiments recognize that it is advantageous to maximize the experience that is preferred or desired by a user from a given content. Presently, content is either packaged in a one-size-fits-all manner where the same content is available to all users, or prepackaged different versions of the content are available for predetermined user groups having identifiable group preferences. For example, a movie might have a single storyline for all users regardless of their experience preferences, or some movies provide a limited number of different endings in an attempt to accommodate users with certain experience preferences.
As an example, if the only version of the movie has a tragic ending, users who like tragic story experiences would have a better experience at the movie as compared to those who prefer comic experiences. If a movie has a tragic ending option and a comic ending option, the users who prefer those two experiences will be able to select the version most suited to their preferences, but the users who prefer a happy story-ending may not have a preferred choice available and have to settle for a lesser option.
The illustrative embodiments further recognize that even when alternative storylines are available in multimedia content, those options are limited in experience variety, preconfigured with the content, and have to be expressly selected by the user according to their experience preference. Often, even if multiple experience options are available with some content, all such options are delivered with the content throughout the delivery of the content. The interactivity with the content is limited to selecting a preconfigured option. The illustrative embodiments recognize that this manner of delivering interactive content to users is inflexible, not dynamically personalized, and wasteful of data transmission and storage resources.
The illustrative embodiments further recognize that the type of experience a user is having can be measured directly from the user or from indirect observations of the user. For example, a user becoming stressed can be detected using a variety of biometric indicators, such as including but not limited to perspiration or skin conductivity, heartrate, tremors, agitated posture or movements, and so on. Indirect observations of a user, such as through a camera pointed at the user, can be processed using image analysis, to reveal facial expressions indicative of a type of experience the user is having. The biometric indicators, the image or sound captured from the user, and other similar indicators of a user's experience are referred to herein as feedback or experience feedback.